"backscratching" meaning in English

See backscratching in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: backscratchings [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} backscratching (countable and uncountable, plural backscratchings)
  1. The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action. Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: logrolling
    Sense id: en-backscratching-en-noun-YeNNMDls Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 49 3 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 48 48 4 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 48 49 4
  2. The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.
    (often) Such behavior that is corrupt.
    Tags: countable, often, uncountable Synonyms: logrolling
    Sense id: en-backscratching-en-noun-lJDwUq9g Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 49 3 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 48 48 4 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 48 49 4
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: backscratcher, scratch someone's back, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, green handshake, pay-to-play, quid pro quo

Verb

Head templates: {{head|en|verb form}} backscratching
  1. present participle and gerund of backscratch Tags: form-of, gerund, participle, present Form of: backscratch
    Sense id: en-backscratching-en-verb-in9Mf6QL

Inflected forms

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "backscratching",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "backscratch"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "present participle and gerund of backscratch"
      ],
      "id": "en-backscratching-en-verb-in9Mf6QL",
      "links": [
        [
          "backscratch",
          "backscratch#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund",
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backscratching"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backscratchings",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "backscratching (countable and uncountable, plural backscratchings)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "backscratcher"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "scratch someone's back"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "green handshake"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "pay-to-play"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "quid pro quo"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 49 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "48 48 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "48 49 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonym: logrolling"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              53,
              67
            ]
          ],
          "text": "She babysits the kids, and we mow her lawn. A little backscratching never hurt anybody!",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action."
      ],
      "id": "en-backscratching-en-noun-YeNNMDls",
      "links": [
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "habit",
          "habit"
        ],
        [
          "engaging",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "reciprocal",
          "reciprocal"
        ],
        [
          "beneficial",
          "beneficial"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "logrolling"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 49 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "48 48 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "48 49 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              77,
              91
            ]
          ],
          "text": "You have to \"tip\" the inspector if you want a license in this town. Too much backscratching around here!",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              94,
              108
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They discovered a citation ring: a group of researchers citing one another inordinately. This backscratching aimed to inflate their article-level metrics and author-level metrics.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.",
        "Such behavior that is corrupt."
      ],
      "id": "en-backscratching-en-noun-lJDwUq9g",
      "links": [
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "habit",
          "habit"
        ],
        [
          "engaging",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "reciprocal",
          "reciprocal"
        ],
        [
          "beneficial",
          "beneficial"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ],
        [
          "corrupt",
          "corrupt#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.",
        "(often) Such behavior that is corrupt."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "logrolling"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "often",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backscratching"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verb forms",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "backscratching",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "backscratch"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "present participle and gerund of backscratch"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "backscratch",
          "backscratch#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund",
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backscratching"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verb forms",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backscratchings",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
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      "name": "en-noun"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "backscratcher"
    },
    {
      "word": "scratch someone's back"
    },
    {
      "word": "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours"
    },
    {
      "word": "green handshake"
    },
    {
      "word": "pay-to-play"
    },
    {
      "word": "quid pro quo"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonym: logrolling"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              53,
              67
            ]
          ],
          "text": "She babysits the kids, and we mow her lawn. A little backscratching never hurt anybody!",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "habit",
          "habit"
        ],
        [
          "engaging",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "reciprocal",
          "reciprocal"
        ],
        [
          "beneficial",
          "beneficial"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "logrolling"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              77,
              91
            ]
          ],
          "text": "You have to \"tip\" the inspector if you want a license in this town. Too much backscratching around here!",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              94,
              108
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They discovered a citation ring: a group of researchers citing one another inordinately. This backscratching aimed to inflate their article-level metrics and author-level metrics.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.",
        "Such behavior that is corrupt."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "habit",
          "habit"
        ],
        [
          "engaging",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "reciprocal",
          "reciprocal"
        ],
        [
          "beneficial",
          "beneficial"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ],
        [
          "corrupt",
          "corrupt#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "The act or habit of engaging in a reciprocal beneficial action.",
        "(often) Such behavior that is corrupt."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "logrolling"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "often",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backscratching"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-20 using wiktextract (cdfa371 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.